Using Cold Frames to Harvest Vegetables All Winter Long

How would you like to have a garden harvest all winter long? Even if you live somewhere really cold!
The key to a productive winter garden is cold frames! Building a few simple cold frames will allow you to harvest from your garden all winter even if you live in areas as cold as Zone 4.
There are 3 important tips to remember when planting a winter garden in a cold frame.
First, get those vegetables planted at the correct time. The timing of your planting for your winter garden is so important. You should be planting your winter garden 6 to 8 weeks before your first frost. This will allow the plants the time they will need to mature and be ready for harvest from your cold frames during the winter.
Second, choose the right vegetables to plant in a winter garden cold frame. You want to focus on planting hardy greens like lettuce, kale, collards, mache, spinach, tatsoi, and Swiss Chard. Also plant hardy root crops like carrots, turnips, beets, and parsnips.
Third, get those winter garden crops covered at the right time. Once the temperature drops to around 30 degrees at night, you need to put your cold frame lids on in the evenings. You will still need to open your garden cold frames during the day until daytime temperatures are consistently in the low 40s.
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Channels
0:00 Introduction
0:35 What is a Cold Frame
1:50 Plant your winter crops at the right time
4:20 Choose Hardy Greens and Root Crops
6:05 Get your Cold Frames out at the right time
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[Danilyn_Livao]

Amazing video, Rick!👏 The cold frames look perfect for extending the harvest season. Keep inspiring us with your content! 🙂

[Minnehaha]

Great reminders! My cold frames are filled with spinach, thyme, green onions, mache, parsley, and carrots. I'm still unsure of myself on this, but trying. They’re certainly not perfect!

[nijinokanata]

incredible. Fresh produce year round!! Thank you for sharing! Timing really is everything. Hoping to follow you and succeed this winter 🙏🏾

[rvbliss]

I purchased a small one from Amazon. Excited to see how it performs in my zone 7a 😊

[jimmymundane]

I just built one on my raised beds yesterday! I did not have glass, so I used super clear plastic. I put cross members on the frame every 20 inches or so and stapled on some plastic snow fence I had laying around to provide support for the plastic. I then stapled to plastic on top of that. I already had some established Chard, Kale, Turnips and Buttercrunch Lettuce. The greens had been growing all summer and not yet bolted, so I did not have to start plants in August. Northern KY Zone 6.

[Katgirl]

The fabric cloth you laid over them once it gets really cold...do you remove it during the daytime? This is such a thorough explanation of a cold frame. Thank you!

[honeydew]

How does the cold frame keep the ground from freezing? Is it just the cover that keeps it warm?

[szu-pingchangwong]

Do you still need to water the plants during the day?

[pattyfendall]

could you do the same thing with a green house?

[emkn]

I tried hoops and plastic row covers last year and found that I ended up providing a breeding ground for slugs. Is that better or not as much of an issue in a cold frame? I also added leaf mulch and I think that was part of the issue.